Object Alternation in Consumption Verbs in Persian

Consumption verbs, like many two-place verbs, show object alternation in Persian, that is, their second argument may be expressed by two case categories. This paper examines object alternation patterns in Persian consumption verbs showing that they have semantic and pragmatic effects on their resultant verb phrase. I argue that the inherent transitivity and aspectual features of this two-place verb determines its argument realization options and its object alternation options. Moreover, the Persian data suggest that the use of the oblique cases as object markers is partially independent of their use as specific/ non-specific noun and that their aspectually relevant properties determine their use in alternating object realization

Keywords:

object alternation , consumption verbs , oblique , accusative case , specificity